What is a citation?
Are all #citations equal?

Do, for example, self-citations from one's own preprints also count? There are scholars with huge Google Scholar citation count because they self-cite a lot, but when you look them up on Scopus, they practically don't exist.
There are also people who cite only celebrity scholars because they think that's what will make them look smart.

There are people who cite mostly stuff published in recognised journals because they think that's more reliable, "proper science". Plus, some are lazy.
Some cite what others cite without even reading the cited source. If you don't believe me, ask Meyer & Rowan 1977 and Powell & Dimaggio 1983.

Some folks cite tend to hyper-cite their friends and colleagues. Or editors of the journal they publish in.
How we cite is an incredibly important topic. Citation practices have a profound effect on scholarship.

We need to think about how to cite better, how to decolonise our libraries, and how to responsibly use our power as 'knowledge creators."

Think before you cite!
In the end, it's not about whether citations matter, everyone knows they do, often in ways they are not supposed to matter.

It's about how we interpret citation counts and the dangers lying in assuming that high count automatically means good stuff.

Not all citations are equal.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Jelena Brankovic

Jelena Brankovic Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!